How to Change the World 1 Peter 4:9 Introduction How to change the

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How to Change the World 1 Peter 4:9 Introduction How to change the world… 1 Peter 4:9 Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. Background The letter of First Peter was written to Christians who had been dispersed through their regions by persecution. They were learning how to live faithfully to Christ while also suffering for him. Peter wrote to inform the identity of his audience and teach them how to live accordingly. Exposition I.

Hospitality Defined

What does it mean to “show hospitality?” Simply put, showing hospitality means “loving and welcoming strangers.” The compound Greek word that is actually behind our English word for “hospitality” is “philoxenos.” The word “philo” means “love” and the word “xenos” means “stranger.” And this shouldn’t surprise you. You have heard that the “Philadelphia” is the city of “brotherly love.” And likewise, you have heard the term, “xenophobia,” which refers to an intense and irrational dislike for fear of people from other countries. But the Bible does not call us to be xenophobic. No, instead, it calls us to love and welcome the stranger. To welcome the one who is different. To open our homes for the sake of others finding a home. Hospitality means “loving and welcoming others into our lives.” T.S. – So, where does hospitality begin? It begins with our relationships with one another. II.

Hospitality toward One Another

While the word for hospitality implies showing love and welcoming strangers, it also equals applies to welcoming and loving those that we do know. Specifically, it applies to welcoming and loving other Christians. We see this throughout the New Testament. Whether it was Jesus’ disciples being welcomed in different cities (Matthew 10:11-14), or the apostles and early church missionaries being welcomed while on their missionary journey (Acts 10:6, 16:15), or the letters to the New Testament churches regarding the virtue of hospitality (Romans 12:13, Hebrews 13:2), hospitality was a major concern and strategy for the early church. As people open their homes to other Christians and strangers in their community, the gospel of Jesus Christ spread throughout the world, which is where I get the title of this sermon, “How to Change the World.” If the gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God unto salvation, and this world is in desperate need of the life-changing message of God’s grace, and if the means that God has appointed to spread this message includes the use of our homes and tables, then one of the most powerful ways that we can change the world is by showing hospitality to one another.

For, it is in context of our living our lives with each other that we are able to apply the gospel and receive the gospel in our relationships with others. In other words, what I need to hear and see throughout the course of a week is how God’s grace is changing you to becoming more like Jesus Christ. And likewise, you need to hear from me, how God’s grace is sustaining me and my family. And we need to pray with one another. We need to laugh with one another. We need to weep with one another. And all of this requires a bigger vision of what it means to be the church of Jesus Christ than simply showing up to a few meetings in this building each week. If we reduce fellowship to what happens here a few hours a week, we will starve ourselves of the means of grace that God has provided us. God intends for our lives to be lived with each other. Lives of hospitality. Lives marked by a reciprocity of love and welcoming. Lives that reflect the love and welcoming of Christ. T.S. – Lives that show hospitality without grumbling… III.

Hospitality without Grumbling

What does it mean to “grumble?” It means to “express discontent, to complain,” typically behind someone’s back. To show hospitality with grumbling would be to open your home and welcome others while thinking or saying to yourself, “Uh, this is miserable. I hope they leave soon. I’m only doing this because the Bible tells me that I have to. It is not because I really want to. I take no joy in this. What if these people that I have into my home tell others about my house? What if they criticize the food that I prepared? This is just not worth it. I don’t have time to be hospitable. I’ve got my own friends. I’ve got my own schedule. I don’t need anyone else or all their drama in my life.” Grumbling is rooted in a false understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ that hospitality was designed to adorn. When we grumble, we are undermining the love that hospitality was designed to show to others. So, when we show hospitality, we do so without complaint. In fact, we do it with joy, because we have been invited to be godly, to be like our merciful God, who welcomed strangers like us into His home and made us a part of His family. Conclusion We are called to show hospitality to one another without grumbling. To change the world one front door and dinner table at a time. But where will we ever find the resources to be hospitable like this? Verses 10-11 tell us, “10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

In other word, the grace that we need in order to be gracious has already been provided to us in Christ. Furthermore, we show hospitality using the grace and gifts that God has given us because everything that we possess is from Him, to Him, and for Him. If you have received the grace of God, then you have become a steward of that grace, and God intends for you to use it so “that in everything He may be glorified through Jesus Christ.” So, I conclude by asking you this: How are you using the resources that God has graciously given you to welcome and love one another? How are you using the varied grace of God in your life to meet the needs of those who strangers in our community? How are you stewarding God’s grace in your life for the sake of others? Brothers and sisters, we must avoid constantly reverting to the comfort our cliques and groups that allow us to feel safe while we disregard God’s Word. We must be careful not to become so busy that we cannot be obedient to Christ. If we would follow Christ, then we must be ready to take risk for the sake of His glory. We must be ready to welcome one another. Welcoming the stranger. Loving one another. Loving those who are different from us. And doing so without grumbling. Without complaint. Showing hospitality is not about showing off the extravagance of your china collection. Hospitality is about showing off the extravagance of God’s grace in Christ that welcomes the stranger with love. So, I end with this: A Hospitality Challenge In the next two weeks, I challenge you to find one person or one family at work or from the community and have them into your home. Prepare a modest meal, put on a pot of coffee, ask Sara Lee or Marie Callender to make you a pie, and sit down with someone that you do not know very well or who you have not really spent much time with, and enjoy their company. Show them grace. Show them mercy. Listen to them. Serve them. Welcome them in your life, for the sake of God’s glory in Jesus. A Challenge to Fathers Fathers, take the lead on this challenge. Be helpful to your wife. Set the example for your family. Prioritize hospitality in your home. Teach your children that God has given us homes not to build our own kingdoms, but rather, to advance His kingdom. All that we have belongs to God, so for the sake of His glory, let us use it to show hospitality to one another without grumbling, and by doing so, change the world.